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As part of its expansion plan in the Middle East region, Travelport GDS has chosen Bryan Conway to take up the new role of president and managing director, Middle East & Africa (MEA).

Published: 26 Sep 2008

As part of its expansion plan in the Middle East region, Travelport GDS has chosen Bryan Conway to take up the new role of president and managing director, Middle East & Africa (MEA).

Conway, who has re-located to the regional Dubai hub, will report to Armin Meier, chief commercial officer, Travelport GDS.

Working closely with Rabih Saab, vice president for the Middle East, the focus of Conway's new role will be two-fold: to strengthen Travelport GDS's position in the Middle East and Africa and to work closely with airlines across the whole region, as well as Europe.

Saab continues in his role as vice president for the Middle East with overall responsibility for the day to day regional operations and reporting into him is a newly appointed team of senior managers including three new country managers to oversee the direct operations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Other appointments

· Faris Azzee, formerly sales director for Amadeus in Dubai and Northern Emirates, has joined the team to head up the new direct operation in the UAE and will be based in the recently-expanded Dubai Silicon Oasis office;

· Fazal Muhammed, formerly Travelport GDS's business development director, Airlines Services (MEA), has been appointed country director Saudi Arabia where he will have responsibility for managing the three new offices in Jeddah, Riyadh and Damman.

· Also newly appointed is Jennifer D'Souza as commercial director looking after all of Travelport GDS's distribution partners across the region.

New distributor relationships

The new distributor relationships, all signed with leading local organisations and due to start on January 1, 2009, include agreements with the Al Safar Group in Bahrain, Mannai Trading Corporation in Qatar, Universal Travel in Yemen and Travel Point LLC in Oman.

Travelport will announce its new Galileo distributor for Kuwait in the very near future as well as a number of other new partners over the coming weeks.